Registering voting-machine



(No Model.)

G. 0. WO0DMAN.

REGISTI-)RING VOTING MACHINE.

N0. 600,820. Patented Manl, 1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

GEORGE C. VVOODMAN, OF LAREDO, TEXAS.

REGISTERING VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,820, dated March 15, 1898.

Application ned May 15, 1897.

.To all when@ t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE 0. WooDMAN, residing at Laredo, in the county of IVebb and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Registering Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to voting-machines, and is in the nature of a machine for such purpose which will receive, mark, and register tickets placed in its receiver.

The objects of my invention are to provide a voting-machine of a simple and cheap construction which will accomplish the following objects: first, to receive the ballot above and outside of the mouth of the machine in a position which Will permit of its being inspected in its folded condition before it is carried into the machine; second, to carry the ballot into a preliminary receptacle, which Will admit of a second inspection; third, to carry the ballot from the preliminary receptacle into its permanent closed and locked receptacle; fourth, to register the ballot by the act of passing it into the preliminary receptacle; fifth, to mark and number the ballot by the act of passing it into the preliminary receptacle.

Vith these objects in view my invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinn after fully described, and afterward specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In order that persons skilled in the art to which my invention most nearly appertains maybe enabled to construct and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it in connection With the accompanying drawings, in Which I have illustrated it, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a votingmachine made in accordance with my invention set up and in position for practical operation. Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section through the machine. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the plane marked by the line 3 3, Fig. 2, looking upward, as indicated by the arrow. Fig. 4f is a central vertical transverse sectional view through the machine. Figs. 5 and 6 are de- Serial Nox 636,712. (No model.)

tail views illustrating the ballot marking and numbering` devices, the latter being omitted from Figs. l to 4L for clearness of illustration.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is a box having a sliding drawer A', secured therein by a combination or other difficult lock. This box has a circular opening in its top surrounded by an annular fiange or ring A2, and journaled in this flange is a shaft B, carrying a door B', constructed and operated after the manner of a turnstile. This shaft is free to be turned by a crank B2, being held against accidental turning by the friction of a spring B3, secured on top of the box and bearing against the top of the shaft, as shown in Fig. et.

C is an upright cylinder of glass open-ended and provided with an outwardly-extended annular flange O' at its bottom, which rests on the ring A2 and is heldin position thereon by a rabbeted ring C2, which is itself secured by screws O3, passing upward from the interior of box A, passing through ring O2, and entering the loWer side of ring O2, thus being removable only from the inside of the box and protected from being tampered with by the drawer-lock.

The upper end of cylinder C has an inwardly-extending annular fiange O4, to which is secured a top or cover D, through an opening or slot D' in which Works the ballot receiving, marking, and numbering devices hereinafter described.

F. is an upright tube, preferably of metal, secured in position on top of the cover D, in which tube is a bar or rod F,extending through the top of the tube and surmounted by a head or button F and also passing down through a small hole in the cover D into the cylinder C. Just below the cover D the bar F is bent horizontally, and at the end of its straight upright portion it has secured to it a pair of spring-arms G G, which extend beneath the slot Di of cover D, and each of these arms carries a ticket-holder, (marked, respectively, I'I I-I,) which are adapted to pass through the slot D' when desired. The bar F is also provided with an annular iiange F2 within the tube E, which rests on top of a spring F3, coiled around bar F and resting upon the bottom of the tube or cover D, whereby the bar E is normally held in its upper position. At the end of its horizontal arm F4 the bar again bends and passes up through cover D into a tube I, within which it communicates with and operates the mechanism of an ordinary or approved construction of registering mechanism I, which is arranged to register' every reciprocation of the rod or bar F. Mounted above the slot transversely thereto and in line with the movement of the ticket-holders H H are two triangular -shaped pieces of metal, which I shall denominate outer openers K K, which have their apices downward, and depending from the cover D inside the glass cylinder C, also in the path of the ticket-holders, are two brackets L L, which carry two inverted-V-shaped lower openers K' K', with their apices upward.

The ticket-holders I-I I-I carry on their faces sheets of rubber forming rubber stamps M, adapted to imprint any suitable character on one or both faces of the folded ticket placed between them-as, for instance, as is shown, a star. One of the holders is provided with a series of rubber bands N around it, each having suitable numbers raised thereon, (but One band of the series being shown,) each band being adapted to be moved around the ticket-holder by coming in contact with a stationary pawl O, carried on a bracket O', secured to the cover D after the manner of hand dating-stamps. These numbering devices are shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, but are omitted from the other figures ot' the drawings to avoid crowding.

The operation ot' my invention may be described as follows: The parts beingin position as shown in the drawings, afolded ballot is deposited between the ticket-holders II H and the rod or bar F pressed downward. The ticket-holders are standing open, being held thus by the openers K K. The downward movement of rod F' carries them downthrough slot D', the sides of which squeeze the ticketholders together and impress the characters on the rubber stamps upon one or both sides. As the movement downward is continued the lower edges of the ticket-holders pass on opposite sides ofthe points or apices of thelower openers K' K inside the cylinder C. This forces the ticket-holders apart and permits the marked and numbered ballot to drop from between them upon the turnstile-bottom of the cylinder C. This cylinder being of glass, the ballot lying on the bottom can again be inspected and then dropped into the drawer by turning the bottom a quarter-turn, which also again closes the opening in the top of the box A. Then the bar F is released from the pressure of the hand, it is carried upward by its spring, and this carries the ticket-holders alsoup, their spring-arms closing them together, so that they will readily pass through the slot in cover D until they come in contact with the upper openers K K, which force their upper edges apart, leaving them again in position to receive a ballot. During the operation either on the up or down movement cf the bar F, as may be desired, the register is operated and the vote properly counted, and although I have not shown such an attachment a register could be attached to the shaft B, whereby an additional register of the number of votes cast could be kept as they are passed into the drawer.

The advantages of my improved votingmachine will be apparent from the foregoing description, and while I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the exact construction herein set forth, but believe myself to be entitled to any such slight variations or changes as would suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic, such changes falling within the limit and scope of my invention.

I'Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a voting-machine, the combination of the receptacle for ballots, having a slot in its cover, two ballot-receivers, means for sliding them through the slot, and openers above and below the slot to separate Ithe receivers, substantially as set forth.

2. In a voting-machine, the combination of the receptacle for ballots, having a slot in its cover, a spring-impelled bar slidable through said cover and,I normally held in its upper position, said bar having a horizontal branch in the receptacle and again bent upward through the top, .ballot-receivers carried on said bar and a register operated by the vertical arin of said bar, all substantially as set forth.

3. In a voting-machine, the combination with the ballot-receiving cylinder having a slotted cover, of the spring-impelled slidable bar, the spring-arms attached thereto within the receptacle, the ballot-receivers secured to the ends of said arms in line with the slot in the cover, the printing devices on said receivers and the openers above and below the cover, substantially as set forth.

4. In a voting-machine having a ballot-receptacle with a slotted cover, the combination with said cover of ballot-receivers, means for sliding them through the slot inthe cover, openers above and below the cover acting to separate said. receivers without and within the receptacle, numbering-bands around said receivers and a rigid stop in the path of the receivers to operate said bands, all substantially as set forth.

IOO

5. In the Voting-machine, herein described, brackets Within the cylinder comprising the in Combination with the cylinder having a inverted-V-sllaped openers, all substantially slot in its cover, the Vote-receivers, sldable as set forth.

through said slot, and elasteally supported, GEORGE C. VOODMAN. 5 J[he two transversely-arranged openers 011 the W'tnesses:

top of the cover, consisting of triangles with A. V. VOODMAN.

apiees downward, and the depending-shaped C. A. MOLANE. 

